AACPS superintendent releases two Phase 2 redistricting recommendations to address overcrowding in central and southern clusters

Superintendent Bedell presented his recommendations for Phase 2 of Anne Arundel County Public Schools' redistricting on July 23, releasing two draft plans that staff said were informed by consultant scenarios, system data and thousands of public comments. The board heard the presentation from Chief Operating Officer Bill Heizer and Executive Director of Facilities Kyle Ruff, and was told the draft recommendations will be posted for public comment starting July 24.

The superintendent said the district must redistrict either because it is growing or because enrollment is declining; in Anne Arundel’s case, he said, the district is growing and needs to balance capacity across new and existing facilities. “One way or another, we have to redistrict, and we have to balance this school system,” Superintendent Bedell said during his remarks.

The two recommendations, labeled R1 and R2 in the presentation, draw from three consultant scenarios produced by WXY and aim to reduce the number of schools that are overcrowded while minimizing disruption where possible. R1, staff said, would rezone roughly 2% of students in the Phase 2 study area and increase overall distance traveled by about 1%; R2 is less disruptive and would reassign fewer students and produce smaller changes to travel distance. Both recommendations propose the same…